Page 21 of Cast in Atonement

“I am not entirely certain. But I believe Hope is part of the noise to which Torrisant refers.”

Kaylin fell behind Mandoran and Annarion. She remained with Helen by Mrs. Erickson’s side, an arm around the older woman’s shoulders. No matter how quickly Mrs. Erickson moved, she was never going to run up the flights of stairs at the cohort’s speed. Or Kaylin’s, if it came to that.

In any other circumstance, Kaylin would have ordered Helen to take Mrs. Erickson somewhere safe. But if Torrisant was right, the noise was being caused by Mrs. Erickson’s ghosts—ghosts that no one else could see. In theory, no one else should have been able to hear them either, but Torrisant had, and he’d alerted the cohort.

Terrano was nowhere in sight. Of course he wasn’t. Knowing Terrano, he’d rushed into whatever it was making noise. No wonder Sedarias worried more about Terrano than the rest of the cohort combined.

Mrs. Erickson said, “You can go on ahead. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Kaylin shook her head. She was certain that if the guests were involved, Mrs. Erickson was their only conduit; there wasn’t much point in arriving before the newest of her roommates.

She reached the end of the stairs, turned toward the hall that had only one resident, and nearly ran into Annarion’s back. Mandoran stood beside Annarion, but the halls were wide enough to accommodate more than two people standing side by side; they had clearly taken up defensive positions.

Torrisant was farther down the hall, and the two Barrani moved cautiously to join him; they stood three abreast. Kaylin looked between them. The gallery, with its balcony, looked normal for another three yards past the three Barrani men—but beyond that, it no longer resembled any part of Helen’s house. The carpeting ended in a blur of blue and gold—as did the walls, rails, one half of a painting, and the ceilings.

Something that resembled a large, out-of-focus moon had taken over Helen’s physical control of the space. Or maybe Helen had shifted space to contain whatever it was they were all staring at. Kaylin hadn’t drawn daggers. Annarion had drawn sword, as had Torrisant. Mandoran had taken to leaving his sword in his room, where it was safe. Swords while within Helen’s boundaries weren’t usually a necessity.

Kaylin didn’t think a simple sword—or a pair of daggers—was going to be of much use here, unless monsters suddenly emerged from the orb.

“Helen—what is that?”

Helen stepped between Mandoran and Annarion. “That,” she said, her voice lower than its norm, “is Hope.”

“He isn’t alone,” Mrs. Erickson said. She attempted to follow Helen, but none of the three Barrani moved to allow her passage. They were silent; they were probably fielding questions from members of the cohort who weren’t present.

“Kaylin, tell Terrano to retreat,” Mandoran said.

Terrano was, as expected, in the thick of the unnatural. “Why are you telling me that? I can’t even see him.”

“Shout—he might listen to you.”

Kaylin grimaced; it was Terrano—he didn’t listen to anyone. “Helen—can you see him?”

“He is...very close to Hope; I believe Hope is attempting to isolate him.”

“Please tell me he isn’t actually trying to make contact with...whatever this is.”

“I have never made lying to my tenants a practice.” In a tone surprisingly similar to Mandoran’s, she added, “Where else would he possibly be?”

“You can’t pull him out?”

“I can,” Helen said. “But I am containing the guests, and it is surprisingly difficult. Extricating Terrano would split attention I’m not certain I can spare.”

“What is Terrano even doing?” Kaylin demanded, of the three backs.

To her surprise, it was Torrisant who answered—she couldn’t remember him speaking much. “He’s not completely stupid—he’s got an anchor.”

Anchor. She quickly reviewed the list of cohort members. Sedarias, Allaron, and Karian—another silent presence in the house—were at the High Halls. Serralyn and Valliant were residents in the Academia. Eddorian, alone of the twelve, had chosen to remain within the Hallionne Alsanis. That left only one straggler: Fallessian.

“Can Fallessian handle it?”

“He’s trying.” It sounded like no.

“Mandoran, what is he doing?”

“He’s trying to phase into a plane which would allow him to talk to Mrs. Erickson’s friends.”

“They’re dead!”

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